MAY 2005, VOLUME 33, NUMBER 1, Abstract 3
After the Accident: Hypnotherapy in the Psycho-Legal Context
Paul Cummins, Psychologist
The presence of litigation causes additional complications in psychological and physiological healing after accidents. Compensation systems add to the loss of social and economic power experienced by the injured person; particularly when exposed to questioning, investigations, and repeated medical and psychological assessments, the adversarial nature of the compensation and litigation process tends to bewilder clients and causes this sense of powerlessness. Hence, in a climate redolent with power issues that place inherent limits on gaining their trust, injured persons are especially resistant to formal hypnosis. In this context, indirect hypnotic techniques are especially useful. The author presents a variety of techniques and scripts for alleviating anxiety, panic, and pain, in the context of the case histories of two women who have experienced whiplash and other injuries in motor vehicle accidents.